How do you get crystal clear beer? Finings, or not?
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sternsheet
How do you get crystal clear beer? Finings, or not?
I want to get a really crystal clear beer. I used irish moss in the last fifteen mins of my boil, did a primary ferment of about six days, then transferred direct to keg. It's cloudy. I have no idea how, or when, to use finings - do you put them into the keg after the primary fermentation, and if so, how?
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adm
Some more time will probably help for a start - if you can wait...you will probably find it will clear naturally if you leave it long enough.
There seems to be lots of different fining compounds and methods, and so far i have i have only tried one - but it has worked extremely well both times I have used it.
I used a 2 part Keiselsol and Gelatine compound called KwikClear,you just add 2ml (I think, can't remember off hand though) per gallon of one part to the beer, give it a good shake/stir, wait half an hour and then add the same amount of the second part and shake/stir again....then wait a few days.
What i have done is to let the beer ferment for a week or so, then transfer it to a secondary vessel, fine it there, leave it a week or more, then transfer to the keg and leave it to condition. this seems to work perfectly.
I'm going to try a few differet methods over the enxt few brews and se what is easiest, cheapest and fastest for me.
There seems to be lots of different fining compounds and methods, and so far i have i have only tried one - but it has worked extremely well both times I have used it.
I used a 2 part Keiselsol and Gelatine compound called KwikClear,you just add 2ml (I think, can't remember off hand though) per gallon of one part to the beer, give it a good shake/stir, wait half an hour and then add the same amount of the second part and shake/stir again....then wait a few days.
What i have done is to let the beer ferment for a week or so, then transfer it to a secondary vessel, fine it there, leave it a week or more, then transfer to the keg and leave it to condition. this seems to work perfectly.
I'm going to try a few differet methods over the enxt few brews and se what is easiest, cheapest and fastest for me.
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Parva
My first all grain I left in the FV for 15 days and kegged from there and it has to be said a fair amount of debris ended up going in with the ale. Consequently the beer from the keg was cloudy pretty much all the way to the bottom and even adding finings to the cornie had little affect in my experience.
This time around I've taken a chance and gone for a secondary fermentation. After 4 days I dropped the wort into a secondary FV carefully avoiding introducing air into the mix as much as possible, fitted the air-locked lid and left it for another 5 days when it had become clear the fermentation had stopped (SG 1.010) and the beer looked bright. Racked into cornie without any of the problems of the first brew.
In fact, because there was so much less trub on the bottom I managed to squeeze almost overy last drop of the ale out without dragging any debris along with it. I'll know when it comes to tasting in a few days (more likely tonight
) whether this has worked but the taste and look of the run off to the keg was fantastic! I do have finings to hand and could have put them into the 2nd FV a couple of days or so prior to kegging but didn't see the need, not to mention adding slight risks to infection in the brew.
Ultimately, I'd rather have a slightly hazy beer than something that makes perfect vinegar after all my efforts.
This time around I've taken a chance and gone for a secondary fermentation. After 4 days I dropped the wort into a secondary FV carefully avoiding introducing air into the mix as much as possible, fitted the air-locked lid and left it for another 5 days when it had become clear the fermentation had stopped (SG 1.010) and the beer looked bright. Racked into cornie without any of the problems of the first brew.
In fact, because there was so much less trub on the bottom I managed to squeeze almost overy last drop of the ale out without dragging any debris along with it. I'll know when it comes to tasting in a few days (more likely tonight
) whether this has worked but the taste and look of the run off to the keg was fantastic! I do have finings to hand and could have put them into the 2nd FV a couple of days or so prior to kegging but didn't see the need, not to mention adding slight risks to infection in the brew.Ultimately, I'd rather have a slightly hazy beer than something that makes perfect vinegar after all my efforts.
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Buzz
A week in the primary, followed by a fortnight in the secondary always helps to clear the beer before kegging. I only use finings in the copper - once the beer is kegged I leave for another 4 weeks and then I have clear beer.
It's a lot of waiting, so the key is to have several brews on the go, so you are never tempted to drink the cloudy stuff. It will clear given time - you don't need to add fish guts if you don't want to.
It's a lot of waiting, so the key is to have several brews on the go, so you are never tempted to drink the cloudy stuff. It will clear given time - you don't need to add fish guts if you don't want to.
Sound advice Buzz. I've never used secondary finings, just time.Buzz wrote:A week in the primary, followed by a fortnight in the secondary always helps to clear the beer before kegging. I only use finings in the copper - once the beer is kegged I leave for another 4 weeks and then I have clear beer.
It's a lot of waiting, so the key is to have several brews on the go, so you are never tempted to drink the cloudy stuff. It will clear given time - you don't need to add fish guts if you don't want to.
Commercial breweries do it because they want to convert their brew into cash ASAP and I wonder if homebrewers do it to cover up some deficiency in technique earlier in the brewing process. However, I can understand that the technically adept might still want to use secondary finings to obtain crystal clarity and that's fine
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Whorst
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alefric
Seconded..........Also see thread on gelatine on this forum about how to use.Whorst wrote:Use a highly flocculent yeast and gelatin finings. I do an Ordinary Bitter that's deliciously drinkable within 7 days of brewing. Try Safale-04. You should have pretty clear beer without finings, but I use the finings because I enjoy the polished look of a pint.
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Calum
I tend to need finings more in the summer as I have beer maturing in the garage and as it is warmer the yeast won't drop out of suspension like it does in the winter.
There is also the issue of using different yeasts. I used to brew exclusively with S-04 and never had any clarity problems. Then I used US-05 and couldn't believe the difference. I have since used a number of different yeasts and but unless you have the priviledge of knowing and understanding the yeast you can get varying results and it can require some work to get it to clear down.
I like to have some auxilliary finings and isinglas available to meet any specific requirements I might have.
There is also the issue of using different yeasts. I used to brew exclusively with S-04 and never had any clarity problems. Then I used US-05 and couldn't believe the difference. I have since used a number of different yeasts and but unless you have the priviledge of knowing and understanding the yeast you can get varying results and it can require some work to get it to clear down.
I like to have some auxilliary finings and isinglas available to meet any specific requirements I might have.
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Bionicmunky
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Iank
I like your turn of phrase 'deliciously drinkable'. Makes me want to brew your 7-day Ordinary BitterWhorst wrote:Use a highly flocculent yeast and gelatin finings. I do an Ordinary Bitter that's deliciously drinkable within 7 days of brewing. Try Safale-04. You should have pretty clear beer without finings, but I use the finings because I enjoy the polished look of a pint.
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Whorst
Try it! It takes roughly 3 days to complete fermentation. I rack into a corny keg with no priming sugar. Leave for 4 days so it conditions. You'll need to cool it down so the CO2 goes into solution. I served it at a party where one of our guests was from Scotland. He didn't believe that I made it. No strange flavors, nothing in my opinion that would indicate it was too young. Crystal clear and a joy to drink. He drank 5 pints and some whisky. He was very happy!
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hoppingMad
By all means use finings. I don't however, mainly because I almost always use a cold secondary for ales and even better, a 2 degree C lagering stage for lagers.
There are different forms of cloudiness in beer. I'm not a chemist, just a brewer.
Some cloudiness is helped with Irish moss late in the boil. But after primary is complete, racking to a secondary vessel and leaving for one to two weeks will settle out further cloudiness, obvious by the sediment at the bottom of your secondary vessel.
Another form of cloudiness known as chill haze is reduced in a couple of ways. You can lager the beer at 1-4 degrees C for two to four weeks which effectively drops out most chill haze ( providing you have performed several other variables well, such as the use of Irish moss, a rapid boil, a rapid wort chilling of between 25 and 40 mins etc. etc. )
In this instance beer can become very clear to bright-clear, almost as clear as actual filtration.
Chill haze is where your beer looks sparkling clear at room temp, but when chilled for serving down to 9-12 C becomes cloudy again.
You can use certain fining agents for reducing chill haze or just simply lager the beer as above.
Other forms of clearing agents such as polyclar are also effective against chill haze.
But in my experience, good technique throughout the brewing process followed by sufficient cold conditioning and/or lagering properly gives me very clear beer.
If you can't or don't want to cold condition and you want clear beer then finings are your answer.
Just as an additional note: I have read several opinions about whether the yeast is still capable of carbonating bottled beer after lagering at very cold temps.
My experience is that I have never added yeast at bottling and never had any problems whatsoever with natural carbonation after subjecting the yeast to 2 degrees C for a month. (Wyeast Czech Pils, S-23 dried yeast)
There are different forms of cloudiness in beer. I'm not a chemist, just a brewer.
Some cloudiness is helped with Irish moss late in the boil. But after primary is complete, racking to a secondary vessel and leaving for one to two weeks will settle out further cloudiness, obvious by the sediment at the bottom of your secondary vessel.
Another form of cloudiness known as chill haze is reduced in a couple of ways. You can lager the beer at 1-4 degrees C for two to four weeks which effectively drops out most chill haze ( providing you have performed several other variables well, such as the use of Irish moss, a rapid boil, a rapid wort chilling of between 25 and 40 mins etc. etc. )
In this instance beer can become very clear to bright-clear, almost as clear as actual filtration.
Chill haze is where your beer looks sparkling clear at room temp, but when chilled for serving down to 9-12 C becomes cloudy again.
You can use certain fining agents for reducing chill haze or just simply lager the beer as above.
Other forms of clearing agents such as polyclar are also effective against chill haze.
But in my experience, good technique throughout the brewing process followed by sufficient cold conditioning and/or lagering properly gives me very clear beer.
If you can't or don't want to cold condition and you want clear beer then finings are your answer.
Just as an additional note: I have read several opinions about whether the yeast is still capable of carbonating bottled beer after lagering at very cold temps.
My experience is that I have never added yeast at bottling and never had any problems whatsoever with natural carbonation after subjecting the yeast to 2 degrees C for a month. (Wyeast Czech Pils, S-23 dried yeast)